Recipe

CREAMY CHAI SPICED POPSICLES

September 22, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Fall in Texas is not like other places I’ve lived. We’re still hitting 90º temperatures on the regular which makes it hard for me to fully get in the swing of the season. But I’m beyond ready for the smells and flavors of fall. Growing up, my mom would simmer a pot of hot water with spices like cinnamon, cloves and orange peel. These beautiful scents would waft through the entire house and make everything seem just a bit cozier.

I’m ready for fall spices but I also want to keep cool in these crazy warm temperatures. Why not combine the two? My answer to this is a creamy chai popsicle. With just three ingredients, this recipe is one of my easiest to make. Oh yeah, and it tastes so good I’d be willing to be you can’t eat just one 😉

Tips:

After heating everything on the stovetop, I transferred the mixture to a 2-cup measuring cup for easier pouring into the popsicle molds

If the popsicles are sticking to the molds, briefly run them under COLD water, they should loosen right up without actually melting.

CREAMY CHAI SPICED POPSICLES

1 ¼ cup whole milk

2 chai tea bags (paper tags removed)

14oz can sweetened condensed milk

In a medium pot, over low heat, bring milk and tea bags to a simmer. Gently stir constantly for 5 minutes so that milk does not burn. Milk will turn darker in color as the tea steeps – (almost looking like chocolate milk). Remove tea bags from pot. Remove pot from heat and pour sweetened condensed milk. Stir until milks are fully combined. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze overnight.

CREAMY CHAI SPICED POPSICLE

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Fall spices in a sweet dessert

: Slice Of Honey

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 6 Popsicles

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup whole milk
2 chai tea bags (paper tags removed)
14oz can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

In a medium pot, over low heat, bring milk and tea bags to a simmer. Gently stir constantly for 5 minutes so that milk does not burn. Milk will turn darker in color as the tea steeps – (almost looking like chocolate milk). Remove tea bags from pot. Remove pot from heat and pour sweetened condensed milk. Stir until milks are fully combined. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze overnight.

Rainbow Fruit Salad

August 28, 2018 by Sarah Baade 1 Comment

My husband and I are pretty active in our church and this naturally leads to potluck meals a few times per year. My husband’s answer to bringing a dish is always “Let’s just pick something up from the store on the way to the party.” I, on the other hand, never even think of this as an option until he mentions it. Instead, I go through my mental rolodex of easy recipes and some sort of cookie usually wins out. I’m honestly not sure why I feel obligated to bring something homemade. I don’t expect it of others and I’m pretty confident others don’t expect it of me. Then again, homemade always tastes better than store bought, even with a simple recipe.

This weekend we attended a pool party and you guessed it, it was a potluck situation! I’ve been obsessed with fresh fruit lately so cookies didn’t even make the short list of ideas for once. Instead, I made my rainbow fruit salad. Guys, this is so easy and so delicious! I promise, the hardest part of this recipe is cutting some fruit and there isn’t even very much to cut. This fruit salad is so refreshing but it will also satisfy your sweet tooth – this counts as a win-win in my book!

Tips:

Don’t be afraid to swap out some of the fruits for whatever is seasonal. Ultimately, the goal is about 8-10 cups of FRESH fruit.
I always like to add a few berries to my fruit salad because they don’t require cutting. Just wash and toss them into the mix!

Rainbow Fruit Salad

1 large peach, rinsed and cut into bit sized pieces (I left the skin on)

3 kiwi, peeled and cut into bit sized pieces

1 mango, peeled cut into bit sized pieces

12oz raspberries, rinsed

11oz blueberries, rinsed

2 teaspoons agave syrup (or honey if you prefer)

1 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Toss all fruit into a large bowl. Drizzle with agave syrup then add mint and lime juice. Gently stir until fruit is evenly coated with the syrup and lime juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Rhubarb Bread

August 20, 2018 by Sarah Baade 6 Comments

Rhubarb. I feel like I need to admit that prior to this recipe, I had never eaten rhubarb. I’m not a big fan of celery and it just looks like giant pink celery so why would I want to eat it? What is particularly astonishing about this situation is that strawberry rhubarb pie is one of my dad’s favorite desserts. I grew up with this pie being made in my household somewhat regularly. Still, I never tried it. As I sifted through my grandma’s recipe box I knew I needed to get over myself and give this a go.

I feel like you need to know your fruits and vegetables in raw form before cooking with them. So, I did it. I took a bite of raw rhubarb – BITTER!!! Clearly sugar is needed to balance this out, no wonder I’ve only ever seen it in desserts. I also tasted the batter before pouring it into the loaf pans (I know, I was risking salmonella with the raw egg). I was expecting it to be sweet like a muffin or pumpkin bread but it was actually quite mild. My second confession for this recipe is that I was starting to think this might be my first fail of Grandma’s recipe box. I. Was. Wrong! The brown sugar crumbles on top added just the right amount of sweetness to make this bread completely delightful and the bitterness of the rhubarb subsided as it baked. Alright, rhubarb lovers of the world, I get it and I’m now a member of your club!

Tips:

Sometimes your hands are better tools than anything you can buy. I found it easiest to mix the topping ingredients together by hand.
You can grease your loaf pans if you don’t have parchment paper.

Rhubarb Bread

Bread:

1 ½ cups packed brown sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups diced rhubarb

½ cup walnut pieces

Topping:

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, slightly softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two loaf pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together all bread ingredients in order listed. Pour equal amounts of batter into each loaf pan.

In a small bowl, mix together topping ingredients. Sprinkle equal amounts of topping over each pan of batter.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until test until a test stick can be inserted and removed clean. Once loaves are baked, let cool 20 minutes before removing from pans. Slice and serve slightly warm or let loaves finish cooling on a wire rack.

Original recipe source unknown. Recipe has been modified from this version for the purpose of this blog.

Watermelon Salad

August 1, 2018 by Sarah Baade 2 Comments

I keep wondering if I’m getting wimpier with age or if this summer really has been excruciatingly hot. I’m leaning toward the latter but the honest answer is that it’s probably both. I’ve been thinking back on all those summers I spent working at YMCA camps (shout out to Camp Wood and Camp Cosby!) and wondering how I survived living in little cabins with no air conditioning. I’m confident that I survived by being preoccupied with lots of fun activities and friends. I mean, who has time to think about the heat when you’re guiding a group of kids through a mud hike?! Still, we’ve been hitting triple digit temperatures on a daily basis with not much relief in sight. I give a lot of credit to all the summer camp staffers out there who have pushed through this heat to give kids the best week(s) they could imagine.

When it’s this hot outside, I have no interest in turning on the oven. Simple fresh ingredients are the way to go and summer provides such delicious seasonal produce! Naturally, I had to use this to my advantage. My daughter has been on a watermelon kick lately so I opted to use that as my base. I’m all about use what you’ve already got at home when possible. With just five ingredients, the hardest part of this salad will simply be cutting the watermelon. Other than that, this is as easy as a recipe can get. Enjoy!

Tips:

Although more expensive, you can certainly buy pre-cut watermelon to make this recipe even easier to make.
You can certainly toss the salad together a day ahead. Just be sure to cover and store in the refrigerator and don’t add the salad dressing until you are ready to serve it.

Watermelon Salad

Salad:

8 cups watermelon, cut into bite sized pieces

2 cups blueberries

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled or cubed

1 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

Dressing:

1 cup blueberries

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

Directions:

In a large bowl, toss together all of the salad ingredients. In a blender, liquefy the dressing ingredients. Drizzle dressing over individual servings of salad, as desired.

Savory Spinach Turnovers

July 15, 2018 by Sarah Baade 5 Comments

Is there actually a better meal out there than brunch? The combination of savory and sweet breakfast items plus lunch is arguably perfect. It is also the only time adding a little booze to your diet before noon is not just acceptable but encouraged. Hello mimosas and bloody Marys! Next month I will be helping to host a baby shower with brunch so I’ve had all sorts of ideas running through my head. The hardest part of menu planning will be narrowing down our options.

I can’t quite decide what I like best about this recipe. It is incredibly easy to make with just 8 ingredients. But the bonus is that it would be great served at a brunch or as a grab and go option on a busy morning. I actually made these on a weeknight and then brought them to the office the next morning to share. My co-workers happily grabbed one to take back to their desks as a mid-morning pick me up.

Tips:

You can make the filling a day ahead and refrigerate it until ready to use.
If you have whole frozen spinach on hand, you can chop it yourself rather than buying the pre-chopped.

Savory Spinach Turnovers

Makes 8 turnovers

10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

½ cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

½ teaspoon garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons shallot, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sheets ready to bake puff pastry dough, thawed

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Drain spinach of any excess water. In a medium bowl, stir together spinach, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic, shallot and salt.

Unfold sheets of puff pastry. Cut each sheet into four equal squares. Place 2 Tablespoons of spinach mixture into the center of each pastry square. Fold each pastry square diagonally over spinach. Pinch edges of dough together with a fork. Brush the tops and sides of each turnover with the beaten egg.

Place each turnover on the lined baking sheet. Bake 16-18 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Strawberry Float

July 1, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Happy Independence Day!!! I have celebrated this holiday from all over the country – Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Alabama… I’ve watched fireworks lakeside, mountainside and from my own driveway. However, my favorite memories of this holiday are from my grandparents’ backyard. As a kid, we would drive down from Kansas to Texas to visit my grandparents. They would have what seemed like an endless supply of sparklers and popper for us to light up after it got dark. All of us kids would line up out in the yard, a few feet in front of Grandpa’s giant vegetable garden, and write our names in the night sky with the sparklers. Aside from summer camp, this has got to be one of my all-time favorite summer memories.

This year, I’m keeping the holiday low-key. My little one is too little to play with sparklers and I won’t be staying up late since I’ll need to be at work the next day. But I still want a festive treat. Making the ice cream ahead of time means all I have to do is scoop and pour some soda for this one. I opted for fresh strawberries since they are readily available this time of year. And in the continued effort to keep things simple, this is a no-churn ice cream. You’re welcome!

Tips:

Make sure the strawberry syrup has completely cooled before you add it to the cream mixture.
The homemade syrup is really delicious – it would also be fantastic poured over any vanilla ice cream for a sundae.

Strawberry Float

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

16oz fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and finely chopped

16oz heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

14oz sweetened condensed milk

Strawberry soda (I used a passion fruit & strawberry Italian soda)

Directions:

Place sugar, balsamic vinegar and half of the strawberries in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid has reduced by half. Set aside to let cool.

In a large, cold bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Stir in vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, cooled syrup and remaining fresh strawberries. Pour ice cream into a 9×5 loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Place 2 scoops of the strawberry ice cream into a glass. Fill glass with strawberry soda until ice cream is covered and starts to foam. Serve with a straw or spoon.

Cherry Limeade Popsicles

June 22, 2018 by Sarah Baade 2 Comments

It is now officially SUMMER!!! And I am celebrating with popsicles. We have been reaching 90’s and even into triple digit temperatures for a few weeks already. I can’t even think about how hot it will be by mid-summer. Over Memorial Day weekend we were visiting family and the kids were all hanging out on the back porch sharing popsicles. Sticky hands and faces, bright red/purple/blue lips, and huge smiles all around. I love how such a simple treat can bring pure joy.

I’ve been trying out a few different popsicle recipes ever since my parents gifted me a nice set of molds. I think their goal was for me to recreate a sangria popsicle we had a while back at a restaurant. I’m sure I’ll get to that before too long but right now I’m focused on non-alcoholic popsicles so my little one can partake. This cherry-lime-aide is my favorite flavor so far. I’m sure this could easily incorporate some wine on the next go-round. (Mom, Dad – I’ve got you covered.)

Tips:

I’m going to be honest, I used frozen cherries for this one because they were already pitted – I’m all about less work when it can still create a delicious result!
If the popsicles are sticking to the molds, briefly run them under cold water, they should loosen right up without actually melting.

Cherry Limeade Popsicles

Makes 6 popsicles

1 cup sweet red cherries, pitted

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

Directions:

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, stir together all four ingredients. Continue stirring until all sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and pour fruit mixture into a blender. Blend on high until all ingredients are liquefied. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze overnight.

Portobello Lettuce Wraps

June 11, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Last month was full of traveling. My husband, daughter and I flew out to Oregon to visit family for a few days. Then I flew to Seattle, WA for a work training. The following week we drove to Kansas to visit more family. I am incredibly thankful for these opportunities but it also completely wore us out. I can’t help but think the exhaustion is partly due to a shift in diet. Whenever I travel I end up eating more junk food than I normally would – certainly more than I should. I’m not alone in this habit, right?!?

Now that I’m back home I’m craving healthy food. I always find the easiest way to eat healthy is to cook at home. When I’m coming up with recipes I typically start with what type of dish I want to make and then figure out the details and ingredients. However, this particular recipe started with the sauce. I actually tried it out on some peeled carrots and it tasted pretty great (give it a try if you need an easy salad) but it wasn’t quite what I wanted as a final product. After some brainstorming, I came up with these lettuce wraps. This is such an easy dish to make, it might just make it onto my regular dinner menu rotation.

Tips:

You can easily make the sauce the night before and then refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.
The easiest way to crumble the tofu is to do it by hand. Alternatively, you could put the tofu in a bowl and break it apart with a fork.

Portobello Lettuce Wraps

Serves 4

½ cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup + 1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

½ teaspoon salt

16oz firm tofu,

4 medium Portobello mushrooms, rinsed, stemmed & chopped

2/3 cup water chestnuts, chopped

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

2 heads of bib or butter lettuce

Optional additions: rice, crushed peanuts, sliced green onion.

Directions:

In a small saucepan, over low heat, whisk together balsamic vinegar, ½ cup olive oil, ginger, peanut butter and salt until ingredients are fully combined. Remove from heat.

Press tofu with a paper towel to absorb moisture. In a large pan, heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Crumble tofu into pan and sauté until it starts to brown. Stir in mushrooms and continue to sauté until mushrooms are tender. Reduce heat to low, stir in water chestnuts, crushed red pepper and sauce.

Spoon rice and mushroom filling into lettuce leaves and garnish with peanuts and green onions.

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No Churn Chocolate Chunk Coffee Ice Cream

May 22, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

I have so many wonderful memories that include ice cream! Clearly a sign of a happy childhood. A sign of a happy adulthood, while we’re at it! Blizzard dates with high school friends and clown cones for my 7^th birthday party were awesome but the best memories are with my grandfather. He would pull out the big crank churn and help us make homemade ice cream. It felt like it took hours of churning and adding more salt and more ice. But the reward was always worth the wait. Fresh from the churn, it was like soft serve ice cream. I always added chocolate syrup on top and Grandpa would help me scrape every last bit from my bowl.

Those memories with Grandpa are incredibly sweet. However, as a career woman, a wife and a mom, I don’t have the patience to wait on ice cream to churn. When I saw the no-churn ice cream trend I knew I had to try it. The basic concept is combining whipped cream with sweetened condensed milk. Beyond this, the flavor combinations are limited only by your own imagination. The coffee flavor I’ve created here seems to me like a great excuse to have ice cream for breakfast.

Tips:

If you’re caffeine sensitive, feel free to use decaf instant coffee rather than regular.
Be sure whip the heavy cream yourself rather than using premade whipped cream. There is a difference in texture and sweetness.

No Churn Chocolate Chunk Coffee Ice Cream

16oz heavy cream

1 single serving packet instant coffee granules (I used Starbucks Via)

1 Tablespoon hot water

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

14oz sweetened condensed milk

½ cup chopped dark chocolate

Directions:

In a large, cold bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. In a medium bowl, stir coffee and hot water until coffee dissolves. Stir vanilla and sweetened condensed milk into coffee until well combined. Mix coffee mixture into whipped cream. Stir in chocolate. Pour ice cream into a 9×5 loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Flight of Mocktails

May 12, 2018 by Sarah Baade 1 Comment

I’ve reached an interesting stage of life where friends are not consuming alcohol like we used to. The reasons seem to vary greatly – pregnancy, health issues, recovering alcoholic. Regardless of the reason though, let’s just admit that we would all be a bit healthier if we went for a mocktail rather than some booze. When I was pregnant, I would ask bartenders to create a mocktail for me when I was out to dinner with friends. Maybe it was pregnancy brain getting the best of me but it never really occurred to me to create some mocktails of my own at home. Now that I’ve made a few I’m actually inspired to make and drink more of them!

The inspiration on this flight of mocktails was really to create drinks comparable to cocktails I would normally order myself at a bar or restaurant. I enjoyed all four drinks listed here but the first two are my favorite. These could be so fun to serve at a baby shower or even just a booze-free brunch with friends!

Tips:

If added sweetness is desired for the Pink Lemon Drop, serve in a sugar rimmed martini glass.
You can buy or make your own simple syrup. To make your own, add ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool completely before adding to your mocktail.

Flight of Mocktails

Sober Sangria – makes 4 drinks

1 orange, sliced

1 apple, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

1 peach, sliced (in winter, you can sub the peach out for 1 cup pomegranate seeds)

1 cinnamon stick

1 ½ cups pomegranate juice

juice of 1 lime

1 cup cranberry juice

Place all fruit and the cinnamon stick in a pitcher. Pour in pomegranate juice, lime juice and cranberry juice. Stir all ingredients and refrigerate a minimum of 4-8 hours in order to allow flavors to blend and drink to chill. Can be served over ice if desired.

Pink Lemon Drop Mocktini – makes 1 drink

¼ cup cranberry juice, chilled

½ cup Italian lemon soda, chilled

2 fresh ginger slices

1 small sprig rosemary

Optional garnish – 1 lemon slice

Pour juice and soda into a martini glass. Place ginger slices on a toothpick then place in drink. Add rosemary and lemon slice.

Mock-Mojito – makes 1 drink

2 tablespoons simple syrup

Juice of 1 lime

1 sprig fresh mint

¾ cup Topo Chico (or plain carbonated water of choice)

Crushed ice

In a 10oz glass, stir together simple syrup, lime juice, Topo Chico and mint. Add crushed ice until glass is full. Garnish with more mint if desired.

Berry Sunrise – makes 1 drink

1 handful blueberries (or opt for blackberries, raspberries or sliced strawberries)

½ cup grapefruit juice

½ cup sprite

Crushed ice

Muddle berries in the bottom of a 10oz glass. Stir in grapefruit juice and sprite. Add crushed ice until glass is full.